Kobel's Art Weekly

Kobel's Art Weekly 37 2024

On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Armory in New York, Martha Schwendener poses the following question in the New York Times: "What do art fairs offer at this moment? Have they passed their due date? Can they assert their relevance? The current edition of the Armory has approximately 235 exhibitors from 30 countries but stresses its New York roots. Along with global appeal, it's also trying to recruit new art collectors from cities like Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, and it has hired some storied local curators to organise various sections." The Armory is now part of the same group as the Frieze fairs, which leads to an intercontinental collision, remarks Barbara Kutscher in the Handelsblatt: “The unintended overlap with the third edition of 'Frieze Seoul', which is taking place at the same time, is to remain. 'We find that there is minimal overlap with the Frieze Seoul galleries and their respective audiences,’ said a spokesperson. Frieze Seoul has attracted the big international dealers who often favour ‘Frieze New York’ in May. Only a handful can now afford to attend both fairs, such as the ambitious Galerie Mariane Ibrahim. The ‘Armory Show’ once again drew smaller fairs into its orbit: For the third time, the boutique fair ‘Independent 20th Century’ with 32 exhibitors at Club Casa Cipriani is looking after undervalued historical items. Volta New York', 'Spring/Break Art Show', 'Art On Paper' and, for the first time, the Brussels design fair 'Collectible New York' will also be attracting collectors.” Will Heinrich visited the Independent for the New York Times: “This year is the third edition, and its tight curation features 32 exhibitors, some of which are sharing booths and nearly half of which are Independent 20th Century debuts. The 20th-century focus guarantees that you'll find plenty of familiar names. Pablo Picasso is here [...]. And a strong contingent of Brazilian artists, along with a couple of female artists who never quite got their due, means you're likely to find some surprises, too.”

In her report on the Frieze and Kiaf fairs in the FAZ, Gina Thomas also points out the change in collectors in Korea: “The strikingly young demographic of the VIP audience on the opening day of the fair confirms that a generational shift is taking place. The new target audience are the children and grandchildren of wealthy entrepreneurs who grew up without Japanese occupation, war and dictatorship, and representatives of Generations Z and Y who have become wealthy in the technology sector or finance themselves. However, they still have to prove their willingness to spend large sums on art.” Michael Huber from the Vienna Kurier (paywall) describes his own experiences: ‘’'Are you a curator at this museum?' asks the inexperienced KURIER editor. ‘No,’ she says, ‘I'm the owner. Ms Tsutsumi turns out to be the heiress of a Japanese department stores' entrepreneur who wants to “add to her collection”, as her “art advisor” Mirai Sayama, who soon takes over the conversation, emphasises. Hong Kong may be established and still a central location for collectors in Asia, but ‘Seoul is now one of the most important art marketplaces in the world’, he explains. It's not an empty claim that the South Korean capital is stepping up its magnetic effect a few notches these days.” However, sales were probably rather sluggish, according to Andrew Russeth from Artnet: “One heard that a lot: Work was moving, but not at the rate one might prefer, like it moved when interest rates were low, collectors were sitting on cash, and inflation was not yet wrecking havoc on the global economy. (Inflation just hit a 41-month low in the Republic of Korea, though, so that's good news.)”

Something is happening in Frankfurt's gallery scene, observes Christoph Schütte for the FAZ: “In 2022, the Interessengemeinschaft der Galerien (IG) dissolved itself after almost 40 years. The reasons for this were not so much conflicts between the top dogs and the new wild ones or differences in terms of differentiation from non-organised colleagues or the once numerous independent spaces in Frankfurt. Above all, after Anita Beckers, Heike Strelow and Jacky Strenz no longer stood as candidates, no one from the established gallery owners wanted to wear the proverbial hat - i.e. represent the IG without a budget, so to speak, and accompany the start of the season organisationally. When more than 50 galleries and off-spaces invite you to the 30th start of the season next weekend, it seems that a lot has happened. The event, which is now accompanied by an agency, is briskly called ‘The Frankfurt Art Experience’, there are tours called ‘Walks’ in German and English and a further programme.”

Sabine Spindler reports on the Munich gallery marathon in advance in Handelsblatt: “Jahn und Jahn and Lohaus Sominsky are part of the Various Others (VO) initiative. Since 2018, the initiative has been developing cooperative concepts with galleries from other cities for the Munich Art Marathon, providing a breath of fresh air. ‘However, we do not see ourselves as competitors to Open Art Munich, the other initiative of Munich galleries and long-standing organiser of the gallery weekend,’ said VO Director Christian Ganzenberg. Which group a gallery belongs to is of secondary importance to the art flâneur. But you should pay attention to both programmes.”

I spoke to the organisers of the resurrected Gallery Weekend in Brussels for Artmagazine.

And the winner is: Jean-Michel Basquiat. This is according to the Artnet Intelligence Report: “Even in these uncertain times for art sales, some things still hold true, according to art adviser Ralph DeLuca. ‘The Basquiat market seems to be a somewhat unstoppable force,’ he said. 'Definitely an essential artist in the “I am a super-wealthy collector” starter kit. Seven of the top 10 results were for works by the artist, adding up to about $137.9 million-81 per cent of the list's total value.”

I read Artnet's annual report (PDF) for the Handelsblatt.

“Move fast and break things” is still the credo of the Internet economy. In reality, however, the latter does not mean cutting off old habits, as the apologists of the start-up scene like to suggest, but actually destroying, in the case of image, text and music generators, the destruction of artists' livelihoods, as their works are used free of charge to train artificial intelligence in order to subsequently flood the market with their output. A report by lawyers Tim Dornis and Sebastian Stober, funded by the Initiative Urheberrecht, therefore calls for the following: “If the EU axiom of a single market with fair competitive conditions and a high level of protection for all market participants is not to be sacrificed on the altar of an overheated data economy, there is no way around adequate protection for works within the meaning of copyright law when used to train generative AI models. Legislative intervention is therefore urgently required. As a closer look at the status quo reveals, we are already in the midst of a global race to the bottom. At the moment, the training of AI systems is taking place in the truest sense of the word ‘without barriers’. What's more, much of the training to create high-performance AI models has already taken place - without being asked and without compensation. It is doubtful whether the ‘better ask forgiveness than permission’ mentality of the predominantly US BigTechs is compatible with the European concept of distributive justice.”

The story of the Hamburg auction house Hauswedell & Nolte, which closed in 2015, is told in an exhibition at the Central Archive of the International Art Trade (ZADIK) in Cologne, which Frank Kurzhals reports on in advance in the Handelsblatt: “Hauswedell & Nolte was one of the most important German auction houses of the 20th century. It can be used as an example to analyse how the auction trade began to establish itself in Germany and how the locally anchored auction houses made themselves indispensable. Expressionism, especially on paper but also on canvas, and Classical Modernism were the core competences.”

Susanne Schreiber hopes in the Handelsblatt that Sotheby's could revitalise the largely stagnant Joseph Beuys market: “In mid-October, Sotheby's plans to auction around 30 works by Joseph Beuys from Jörg Schellmann's personal collection in Paris. The art mediator has always worked closely with Beuys. He also published the catalogue raisonné of his multiples, now in its 8th edition, and the Beuys market has almost dried up, as the artist was careful to sell his large installations to museums during his lifetime. The showcases, sculptures, photographs, drawings and a number of multiples on offer will therefore attract all the more attention. Sotheby's has set their estimates at between 10,000 and 200,000 euros. The work with the highest estimate of 250,000 to 300,000 euros is the ‘Bathtub for a Heroine’, which Beuys had already conceived in 1950 and 1961.”

Susanne Schreiber in the Handelsblatt considers Koller's current offer in Zurich to be a real find: ‘From 18 to 20 September 2024, works from six catalogues will be on offer in Zurich: Paintings, drawings or prints by Old Masters, plus paintings from the varied 19th century, carpets and decorative arts as well as books and autographs. It is well worth scrolling through the online catalogues. There are interesting items for almost every taste and many different budgets, not only for art collectors but also for people who are just setting up their home.’

Gao Zhen, one of the Gao Brothers, who were among the first Chinese artists to become market stars abroad in the noughties, was arrested during a visit home to Beijing, according to Nectar Gan from CNN. The reason for the arrest was sculptures from 2009 that violate a law against the contempt of heroes and martyrs. However, the law was not enacted until 2021. Just in case anyone still has hopes for the art scene there. At best, it's all about money now.

Meanwhile, French state institutions are kowtowing, academics complain in an open letter to Le Monde: “It is indeed surprising to see the removal of the name 'Tibet' from the Musée du Quai Branly's catalogue of Tibetan objects in favour of the Chinese name 'Xizang Autonomous Region'. This change is simply the application of a law in force since 2023 in the PRC and clearly demonstrates the desire that Tibet, occupied and colonised since 1950, should be erased from the maps and from people's consciousness, in the present as well as in the past. At the Musée Guimet, the toponym Tibet has been replaced by ‘Himalayan world’ in the rooms dedicated to it.” That's pretty petty for the Grande Nation.

Polskie Radio reports on the systematic destruction of Ukrainian cultural assets by Russia: ‘According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture and Information Policy, by August 2024, 1,096 heritage sites and 2,024 cultural institutions have been destroyed. There are also cases of previously damaged institutions being hit again.’

Viersen property entrepreneur Florian Peters-Messer has donated 300 works from his collection to the Museum Kunstpalast in Düsseldorf, writes Regine Müller in the Handelsblatt: “At a time when contemporary art is fetching top prices on the art market, many collectors see art as an investment and an object of speculation. For Peters-Messer, this was never an issue: ‘I am an entrepreneur. If I want to earn money, then in this area. Everyone should collect what they want and why they want to. For hobby, for speculation or for conceptual reasons, as I have done.’”

New episodes of the Deutschlandfunk podcast Tatort Kunst by Stefan Koldehoff and Rahel Klein are available to download.

After more than a year of vacancy, Tefaf has a new Managing Director in Dominique Savelkoul, reports Kabir Jhala in The Art Newspaper: “She is the fifth director of Tefaf in four years and arrives after a period of controversy at the fair brand.”